Lurker

Read the 5/4 game thread.

Nothing to do with you, in fact I don't even remember that exchange. It is just funny when I read the same things (not just on this forum) or hear the same things from professional announcers who are shocked that he throws a fast ball faster than 90 because they are reading from a scouting report from 4 years ago. Just lazy and sloppy. But, it's all good! Ultimately, nothing said on this forum (or any other) impacts the success or failure of ANY player.

Sometimes I wonder if all Orioles fans are bi-polar, or is it just members of this forum? I sat behind home plate and watched Bradish pitch his first major league game, do an outstanding job, and provide the Orioles with (what has historically been) a very rare quality start. Some reasonable appreciation shown, and some excitement from the OH. The next game, he throws 3 outstanding innings and has problems in the fourth. In his interview, he explained his mistake: He stayed in the dugout and rooted for his team...then went out to pitch with a cold arm. Yes, he should have been in the tunnel throwing and keeping loose for that long inning, but he didn't. He watched the O's offense score like a fan would. The reaction to that on this thread bounced between him being an idiot and not "having much upstairs" to "shitting his pants." Such ridiculous commentary from people who really should know better was surprising. Last night he throws 7 innings, has 11 k's, with 2 earned runs (off a bizarre "home run") with ZERO walks against a great hitting Cardinal team. An absolutely amazing 3rd start. I guess he is okay now. In all honesty, some of this is understandable, particularly for people who just look at stats (without context) and regurgitate the same drivel that some scout wrote 4 years ago or a comment by some twenty year old with a website. Ultimately, it's all good. People have underestimated Bradish since high school. He continues to prove the "experts" wrong. Back to lurking.

Instead of worrying about how fast he will be sent back to Aberdeen... Why not wait and see what actually happens? I know things here are generally gloom and doom but you might all be pleasantly surprised. I'll be at the game expecting great success.

Be happy that he isn't on the IL for frostbite! That game was 30 degrees with the windchill and snow flurries! I'm surprised he could grip the ball!!

Ortiz is a stud. Really quick hands, fast on the base path and can hit for power. And he doesn't make errors.

Historically, Bradish got a lot of looking K's with that pitch as it starts out looking at eye level and then it just " falls off the table" and into the strike zone. How that pitch will develop in the future is anyone's guess. However, (depending on how MLB screws around with the balls in the off season) it may become effective again, or be dropped for something else. BTW, Congratulations to Bradish for being added to the O's 40 man roster!

You are correct: You know nothing about him.

It will be very interesting to see Bradish next spring. He works hard in the off season and he is still growing. You might see him with another 10lbs of muscle and a bit more velo if his historical trend continues. Considering this was just his second season of actual minor league play, he has moved up quite quickly.

It would be difficult to speculate. There are so many moving parts for any player transitioning from one league to another, or a team that you had relationships with to another team who may all be strangers. Certainly a new type of ball might be an issue, but none of these players live in a vacuum. In the best circumstances there is going to be a lot of pressure in many directions which might take some time for adjustment. What I can say is that Bradish is a really smart young man with an outstanding work ethic. No matter the situation, he will figure out what needs to be done and will work his tail off to in order to achieve it.

What I have noticed is that the way that many younger pitchers have been taught with their warm-up routines seems quite a bit different than even 10 years ago. It seems to me that today’s pitchers actually throw more during pregame than in past years. Throwing into a pad, then throwing long ball, then bull pen work, etc. All of those throws have got to add up and may be affecting the length of their outing. As you stated, it seems like everything is getting more specialized to the point that it is an anomaly to have a pitcher throw a complete game, so you now have a starter, a middle reliever and a closer.

I know for a fact that Bradish likes throwing to Adley. Ruschman is an outstanding defensive catcher that gives pitchers lots of confidence to throw hard. Everyone is always focused on the pitcher, ignoring how the quality of the catcher can impact a pitchers confidence and consequently his performance. All catchers on Norfolk are NOT equal.

My sources tell me that Bradish was told to specifically work on change ups for this game and to not worry about k’s.

My sources stated that Memphis was using different balls. Pitchers were having a difficult time getting a good grip.

100% agree. I want him to show consistent performance in AAA before he gets tossed to the wolves.

I don't know of any minor league players making $20k for 7 months work. The one minor league player that I know personally made $1400/month in AA and got a small bump up for AAA. That is nowhere near $20k for 7 months of work. Keep in mind, these minor league players are responsible for their own housing costs and they generally pay a locker room fee to the ball park and also have to pay for the laundering of their uniforms. When this player was in the Cal league, he was only getting paid $1100/month and had to pay $300/month for laundry services. Oh year, he shared a two bedroom apartment with 5 other players on the team. Being a minor league player is a huge grind, with potentially a large payoff.

Bradish was drafted in the 4th round in 2018 (#121) and Ortiz 2019 in the 4th round (#118). Interesting to note that at one point, Ortiz, Gonzales, Bradish AND Tyler Irwin were all on the same team. The 2018 NM State team that made it to the regionals was a very fun team to watch!

I watched Ortiz play at NM State for 2 seasons. He has crazy speed on the bases and some of the quickest hands at SS that I have ever seen. He can also hit. Ortiz at SS and Nick Gonzales (Pirates) at 2B were an amazing pair in the middle infield.

I don't know anything about that. My post was really about how (in this case) pitchers at this level are always testing new ways to do things and working to improve their craft. They get input from the coaching staff and other seasoned pitchers and often experiment with those things during games in order to determine the result. Everyone wants to win, but ultimately, the minor leagues are about player development and pushing these athletes physically and mentally to see if they can achieve major league status. Cheers!

I have it on good authority that he has been experimenting with a different grip for his change up. I really like how his slider is developing. It has the horizontal movement that you expect, but also some drop due to his delivery.

5 shut out innings, 8 k's, not bad. Certainly showed mental toughness by getting clutch strikeouts with men on base.

He had a much better outing Sunday than last Tuesday. Stayed in the zone and generally stayed ahead in the count to most hitters. You could tell by the third inning, he was relaxed and pitching to his usual pace. 69 pitches for five full inning is good.

Kyle was born in Arizona but moved to Oregon as a very young child. He was a well known athlete around the Portland Metro area both with football and baseball. However, when his family decided to move back to Arizona it changed his trajectory. Instead of coming to a high school in an area where he was well known, he shows up to play baseball and football where he is an unknown and has to earn his spot on teams from the ground up. Because of that, he was primarily an outfielder and a back-up pitcher through high school. He was not recruited by any college team and had expected to play Junior College baseball and then transfer to a four year college. While pitching in a club baseball tournament, a scout (who was there looking at another player) saw him pitch and notified a friend that was on the coaching staff at New Mexico State. They like what they saw and offered him a partial scholarship.

Here is a recent interview with Kyle Bradish:

Joey Ortiz is a beast: Speed, great hands and power. I watched him at NM State and he has done nothing but improve his skills and increase his strength since then. I can't wait to see him compete at the upper levels.